Ilya Fateev answers the questions: bicycles, season 2023 and the Novgorod community

Useful from the issue

1. Stop at long distances less often

   Each stop cools the muscles. If you want to drive 200 km, it's better to stop every 50 km, not every 20; with experience, Ilya tries to drive the first hundred without stopping at all.

2. Don't chase the best components

   Buy a bike, sit down and ride, and solve problems as they appear. Ilya's advice is not to be a theorist who picks at a bicycle more than he rides.

3. Drive your own tracks yourself

   Ilya started participating in his cyclocrosses and realized that without this he did not see any mistakes in the track. It is useful for the organizer to go through the route through the eyes of the rider.

4. Mark races on the indoor trainer

   In Strava, you can mark a workout as virtual or link it to a specific bike. This way, the annual mileage doesn't mix the indoor trainer and the street.

5. Mileage is a personal criterion

   Ilya considers 10,000 km a year to be a good base for an enthusiastic amateur, but everyone chooses what to evaluate their season by.

6. Racing grows the community

   For Ilya, the organization of races is, first of all, an occasion for people to gather. The community is supported by those who continue to organize, even when the first ringleaders retire.

From "dutik" to carbon fiber

Ilya's first bicycle appeared in the late nineties, then he had a folding bicycle begged from his parents, on which he and a friend drove to the Novgorod Kremlin. Conscious skating began in 2013-2014: he drove the first 100 km in 2014 on his father's single-speed Stels. I hooked the bike not as a sport, but as a way to go far on my own and see something you wouldn't see otherwise, plus the buzz from a long cyclic load.

Then there is a long history of bicycles: multi—speed Stels on a rigid fork, which broke down because it was small and the seat was pushed too far; KHVZ "Sputnik", on which Ilya toured Latvia; fix based on KHVZ and used aluminum fix "Ingria" with a very short base — a funny sight with a weight of 100 kg. Then the tourist steel Fuji, the Fuji Declaration fix and challenges like 200 km around the lake or a trip to Pskov on a fix.

The aluminum cyclocross Focus, bought in 2021, emotionally affected him the most: after a touring bike, it rode much better and awakened the desire to race and train. Now he has added his first carbon road bike, which rides noticeably faster on the asphalt.

Why not sport, but the organization of races

Ilya says that it was too late to engage in professional sports by age and data, and he could have joined amateur races for a long time, but there was no sports fervor — the soul lay to cycling. The organization of races grew out of something else: it is a natural way to develop a local community and give people a reason to gather.

In 2021, he began to participate in his cyclocrosses himself. Partly because a suitable bike appeared, partly because I realized that until you drive your own route, you won't realize that you've done something wrong. Other hobbies include podcasting, hiking, music, books in English in the original and community meetings: board games, watching movies together. He is not fond of the car and, having sold the car, realized how much money he had invested in it.

The best season is 2023

Since June 1, Ilya has not worked anywhere, so he rode when he wanted and gave a lot of time to racing. The season started in Turkey, where it was possible to ski in the mountains in February. In the summer, he finally went on a long-planned trip without unnecessary stops, with overnight stays in hotels: five days in a row for 200 km in the Novgorod region.

As an organizer, he held the Tour de Selishchi, the debut Tsar Grader, four stages of cyclocross, a new "Time Trial" in Strava segments and a bike marathon, went to the race in St. Petersburg and Belarus to visit his grandfather. There were no great sporting achievements, but at least he participated in races. The result is 10,000 km for the first time in a season; he considers the worst years when the roll was about 3,000 km.

How much to drive and when the season ends

For Ilya, 10,000 km per year is the baseline for someone who wants to consider themselves a true cyclist, but he emphasizes that numbers mean nothing: everyone decides what they need from a bike. The season for an amateur athlete never really ends: in winter, you hop on a trainer, maintain your fitness, or race in Zwift. A tourist rides for errands on a bike they don't mind getting dirty, while a mountain biker builds snow trails.

The interlocutor asks for an explanation of what an indoor trainer is. Ilya explains that training on it is uploaded to Strava, where you can mark the ride as virtual or link it to a specific bike, ensuring everyone has accurate statistics.

Plans for 2024 and the Novgorod community

In 2024, Ilya wants to hold the Tour de Selishchi again, this time with electronic timing, and the Tsar Grader — with a start in the same place, but a slightly different route. From the new one — to assemble MTB and participate in marathons near St. Petersburg. To do this, he already goes to the arena to learn somersaults. There are no goals for kilometers, there is a goal to hold your own races and ride more on someone else's.

The Novgorod community started with the guys who organized trips for beginners in 2015-2016. Over time, they stopped doing this, and now Ilya, in fact, is the only organizer of his community.: it was called differently, and now "Suslin", because that's what many people called it. In parallel, there is a "VeloNovgorod", more focused on cycling. In Turkey, in Fethiye, a Russian-speaking community has also developed after 2022, and the local coffee shop Not in Paris gathers joint visits there.

Couriers, city and money

Ilya was thinking of working as a bike courier — more for the sake of a fan than for the sake of money, but now time is spent preparing for interviews. He likes that the courier wave has reached Novgorod: cyclists are no longer looked at as crazy in winter. He is comfortable driving around the city because he drives a car, knows the traffic rules and calmly drives along the roadway. Those who are afraid are helped by curb exits, which appeared thanks to scooter sharing.

Ilya is not sure that Novgorod needs bike paths: he would start with systematic repairs and expansion of sidewalks. An example of an unsuccessful solution is the bike path towards Pskov, which rests on the meter—long pedestrian part of the bridge. But country roads have become much better in ten years, including around Ilmen. He honestly calls the bike a tangible expense item, but for cycling, according to him, it's enough just to buy a bike that rides and go.

Timestamps

1. 00:00How a bicycle appeared in life
2. 02:56Ilya's Bicycle History
3. 07:10Why not a professional sport
4. 08:54Hobbies besides cycling
5. 12:09Results of the 2023 season
6. 14:24The worst seasons and the annual roll
7. 17:56Indoor trainer and Strava.
8. 19:14Plans for 2024
9. 20:10Novgorod Cycling Community
10. 22:56Skiing in Fethiye
11. 24:08Bike couriers
12. 25:41Novgorod by bike
13. 29:24How much does a bike cost
14. 30:20Tips for beginners
15. 32:20The Blitz

Mentioned in this episode

Tour de Selishchi · Tsar Grader · Time Trial · Strava · Zwift · HVZ · Fuji · Focus · VeloNovgorod · Not in Paris